Comfy clothes get thumbs up from kids with sensory issues
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Thursday, February 11, 2010
Trying to help her student with hypersensitivity to touch, Jessica Ralli stumbled upon a fact many parents with kids with sensory disorders already knew: Dressing is especially difficult.
"I went online and Googled clothing for kids with sensory disorders and was completely shocked and blown away that nothing really came up ... except a couple of therapeutic companies," says Ralli, a special education teacher in the New York City public school system.
The Soft difference
- Flat seams for extra comfort. Silk thread to make seams soft.
- Soft cotton combed and bio-washed for extra softness and smoothness.
- Wide collars for a roomy fit.
- Encased elastic waistbands that don't pinch.
- Printed labels that don't itch.
- Printed details like buttons, zippers, ties and accessories.
- Vegetable dyes, natural enzyme washes and water-based prints to protect against allergies.
What she says she found instead was a world of parents sharing their frustrations about clothes on blogs and in discussion forums and swapping tips on ways to modify mass-market clothes.
Over the next year and a half, Ralli, who wanted to combine her passions for fashion and helping kids with special needs, asked a lot of questions and listened. Then she met her partner, Chicago mom Suzy Kogen Friedman, an entrepreneur and advocate for people with special needs. Friedman was searching for clothes her nephew, who has autism, would be comfortable in.
Those affordable and fashionable clothes-T-shirts, dresses, dressier shirts, pants and, soon, jeans-are now finally available, thanks to their company, Soft, www.softclothing.net. The feedback from parents trying out the clothes, including those at Chicago Parent, has been positive.
The clothes, they say, are indeed soft and comfortable.
Our picks
Thank you!By Shannon on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 My son has some mild sensory issues, but preschool was a challenge specifically because of what he wore. We had backup clothes in his cubby in case he needed to change due to irritation. There are a lot of days when socially, kids wear a certain color, or a theme (class trips....they all wear the same) and these presented new challenges. I'd get upset with well-intentioned teachers who would declare tomorrow was "dress like a pirate day," or something, because I'd have to find clothes that fit the theme AND had the proper texture, after work with no notice. I wish I'd known about these clothes then! It would be great to have a box of basics to start with. |
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By Eliott on Tuesday, August 30, 2011
my child will not fit in an the child size the Cloth are not made in the USA and they are not using the USA Measurement Size my Child try all the side and nothing Fits Shirt and pants